Deputy President William Ruto said he is focused on ensuring Kenyan smallscale businesses earn more money through their enterprise.
He said he will continue to help Kenyans invest and earn a living.
The DP said people who are against his 'hustler narrative' are those unhappy with his growing closeness to ordinary Kenyans.
He said his resolve with President Uhuru Kenyatta is to help Kenyans especially those engaged in business earn more money by boosting their individual business enterprises through direct funding.
The DP was speaking in Busia on Friday during a fundraiser in aid of bodaboda riders in Teso North and Matayos subcounties.
“I have come here in Busia not because I don’t have work to do. I am also here not because I have no place to go. I have come here deliberately because the work of bodaboda riders is work like any other,” the DP said.
“The way I pushed [ODM leader] Raila Odinga and President Uhuru Kenyatta [to power], is the same way I am going to push hustlers to get enough money in their pockets to do business.”
“Our focus is to help secure employment for the youth. In every household in Kenya, there is at least two youth who have completed school but are unemployed. The other thing that we are focused on doing is to uplift small businesses owned by hustlers, secure money for them so that we are able to reduce poverty at the household level.”
The DP said he will continue to work closely with ordinary Kenyans despite criticism from some leaders who claim his hustler narrative only aims at rallying support for his 2022 presidential bid.
“I am in Busia because of hustlers. I and President Uhuru Kenyatta have agreed that we will change the politics of Kenya and we have agreed to end the politics of hatred and tribalism. We have decided to unite Kenyans,” he said.
“When we constituted the government, we said we will roll out the housing and manufacturing agenda for the country, agro-processing and value addition. But unfortunately, that work has delayed because we got another emergency work; this thing called the BBI. BBI has distracted us for the last three years and we are still struggling to look for ways of organising the issues therein.”
The DP was accompanied by MPs Mwambu Mabonga (Bumula) and Malulu Injendi (Malava). Also present were former Teso South MP Mary Emase and 2017 Busia Woman Rep aspirant Susan Mangeni.
Officials from the Busia County government gave the DP's visit a wide berth.
He said once the country gets done with the BBI, he and President Uhuru Kenyatta “will revisit the issue of housing, manufacturing, value addition as well as agro-processing so that our youth can get jobs.”
The DP helped raise Sh2 million for bodaboda associations in Teso South and Matayos during the fundraiser held at the Busia Polytechnic grounds.
He said similar fundraisers will be organised to help raise money for bodaboda associations from Teso North, Nambale and Butula subcounties.
Former Teso South MP Mary Emase said the government should address the issue of the stoppage of maize from neighbouring Uganda.
She said there are many youths in Busia who do business by importing maize from the landlocked country and locking maize imports from Uganda will deny the youth jobs.
Ruto also said he is focused on ensuring that beginning 2022, the government allocates at least Sh100 million for every constituency in the country.
This money, he said, will be invested in funding operations of small businesses across the country.
